WARRIORS through

THE Warriors put up a workman-like performance as they dug deep to hold The Comoros to a goalless draw despite arriving here just three hours before the start of the African Nations Championships qualifier.

Callisto Pasuwa

Zimbabwe progress to the next round thanks to a 2-0 aggregate victory secured by that scoreline at Rufaro Stadium in Harare a fortnight ago.

South Africa are up next and coach Kallisto Pasuwa warns that the nation cannot continue taking for granted issues to do with travelling on time and acclimatising to foreign conditions.

“It’s always nice to win but winning without preparations like we are doing will not do us any good. This issue of arriving for such an important tie just a few hours before kick-off is unacceptable,” he said.

“Our next assignment is against South Africa in the Caf Championships, and those are serious footballing nations. You can’t expect to beat them without training.”

Wary of the effects of jet lag, the Warriors coach yesterday tasked his team to play deep with the hosts, who looked fired up from the first whistle, doing most of the probing but failing to trouble goalkeeper Bernard Donovan.

“We had told the guys to sit back because we didn’t want them to be affected by jet lag. I’m glad it worked and we are going through but at the end of the match they were signs of tiring.

“We were also not as ruthless as we should be in the final third and these things can only be corrected through training,” said Pasuwa.

On fire striker Edmore Chirambadare could have had a dream Warriors debut but twice, inside the first 20 minutes, the Chicken Inn man shot wide from good positions.

As the match reached the half-hour mark, Zimbabwe slowly started getting into the groove, knocking the ball around and denying Comoros room to use their dangerous wingers.

So comfortable were Zimbabwe in the second half that even defender and skipper Danny Phiri could afford to venture upfront, eliminating two defenders in a rare moment of skill but failing to find an unmarked Chirambadare inside the box.

Comoros forward Ahmed Ali found space inside the Warriors box but shot over with an exposed Donovan at his mercy on 68 minutes.

As the Warriors began to lose steam, Goula Fasoiha’s overhead effort went over.

Pasuwa introduced Malvin Gaki for Carlos Rusere up front while Marshal Mudehwe came in for Emmanuel Mandiringana in the second half. And Mudehwe, who scored the Warriors second goal in the first leg, could have secured a late goal for Zimbabwe after being teed up by Chirambadare who had bulldozed his way past three Comoros defenders.

But the out of favour FC Platinum player shot wide.

The Warriors were expected home last night on a chartered Air Zimbabwe plane.SundayMail